Rockabye
by Lleyboy-SnoopDogg
Summary: Casper Roydon is a student at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Only he can save the world when a great tragedy passes. Rated M for language.
1. Casper Roydon

Rockabye

Chapter 1 : Casper Roydon

 _Lleyboy & SnoopDogg_

"Listen, I'm sure you'll do fine," the station guard told me. "I've really got to go now, okay?"

"Okay," I mumbled. I was about to board the Hogwarts train for my first year first term. I'm a half-breed, Casper Roydon at your service. I'm nervous, because I've heard dreadful stories of Slytherin and what the students in that house do to anything close to muggle-borns. Absolutely dreadful.

Shit. I'm seriously gonna be late for the train.

"Hey, this compartment full?" a group of three students, third-years, were standing at the door, waiting for a response. One was redheaded, and taller than the other two and obviously a boy. The girl had light brown hair, and big brown eyes. And the third was bespectacled, with shaggy dark hair and shimmering green eyes. "All the others are full."

"Not at all," surprised what the older students might want to do with me. "Wait, you aren't in Slytherin, are you?"

"Nope," the redhead wrinkled his nose. "Why?"

"I've heard horrid stories of what they do to anything close to muggle-borns."

"What do you mean 'close to a muggle born'?" the girl asked and giggled a little when I paled slightly. "Don't worry. I am one. I'm Hermione Granger."

"Roydon's the name," I said. "Casper Roydon."

The other two introduced themselves as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. As they got to talking, I stared out the window, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

"Wake up," I felt someone shaking my shoulder. "We're here."

I opened my eyes and got up, then followed the others out of the train. All of a sudden I heard someone sniffing.

"Crabbe, Goyle," a voice harrumphed from behind me. "Look what the cat dragged in. A half-breed! Wait till my father hears about this."

I was shoved forward and bumped into Ron, who was in front of me. He turned around and said, "Back off, Malfoy."

"What are you gonna do about it, weasel?" Malfoy taunted.

"He's gonna beat your bloody arse up, that's what," I retorted, surprising myself.

Malfoy's henchmen pushed me over, and my beanie fell off, causing my hair to fall over my face. I burned with anger, when all of a sudden I lightly pushed the workers away, but they went flying. Malfoy's sneer quickly turned scared, and he left me alone the rest of the night.

"Hmmmm…" the sorting hat was halfway done with his job. "I know… HUFFLEPUFF!" Cheers came from the Hufflepuff table, as the girl skipped over to join her housemates.

"Casper Roydon?" Professor McGonagall called. I walked up and sat in the chair. She placed the hat on my head.

"Aha! Hmmm…" I got kind of nervous. "SLY- ah, I see. GRYFFINDOR!"

I saw Malfoy sneer out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored him. I was a prankster, not a fighter. Hermione patted me on the back as I sat next to her and across from the two boys.

It was late in the year, and the only friends I had made were in 3rd year, the trio, Dean Thomas, and the Patil twins. It was the first Hogsmeade outing for the 3+ years, but since neither Hermione nor Harry has gotten signed parchments, we went to the library to study. I had mastered the levitating charm with Hermione when Harry took me to the storage rooms to get broomsticks. We spent the next hour and a half flying around, throwing a Quaffle. All of a sudden, Malfoy appeared. I threw the Quaffle at him, and it hit him square on the head. His henchmen caught him, but his Nimbus 2001 was absolutely ruined.

We went to Hagrid's hut with Hermione, but it was getting late so we said goodbye and left.

We ended up strewn about the common room, recounting the events of the day, when Creevey burst into the room and yelled to come, and quick.

We followed him to McGonagall's office. Then I waited outside for them to come out. A minute later, they called me in.

"Hello, Mr. Roydon," Professor McGonagall acknowledged.

"Good morning, Professor," I had always been one for jokes.

"Do you know the Weasley's, Roydon?" she asked, unexpectedly.

"Well, I know Ron and Ginny, but I take it they have quite a few siblings," I replied.

"Quite. One of these siblings happens to be Percy Weasley," she began. "You have met him, correct?"

"I don't think so, Professor," I again answered.

"Also, if I may ask," she plowed onward. "Who showed you to the dormitories on the first day of term?"

"Wood, I believe, ma'am," Oliver Wood actually, but I learned to keep my answers short.

"Thank you for this information, Mr. Roydon," she finalized. "You may wait outside for your friends."

I nodded to my friends and sat outside to wait for the two.

They came out a few minutes later.

"Hell was that all about?" I asked Harry.

"Percy isn't here for some reason," he answered. "We best be off to bed now."

We made it to the common room, where I promptly fell on a couch. Hermione lit the fire and collapsed on another. Harry grinned, conjured a few blankets from upstairs, and lay them over each of us.

"Casper?" Hermione whispered into the darkness.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Have you slept yet?"

"No…"

"Okay."

"Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any plans for Christmas?"

"I'm going to France."

"I was wondering…"

"Yeah?"

"If maybe your family would like to meet me there. In Paris."

"Of course!"

"Okay then. Sweet dreams."

"Good night."

All of a sudden, a loud crash sounded, and startled Hermione. I couldn't keep my eyes open, though, and I descended into sleep.

" _Expelliarmus!_ " I yelped and Harry's wand flew out of his hand and clattered to the ground a few feet away. He applauded me.

"Nice one, Casper!" he congratulated.

He walked over to his wand and picked it up. We walked out to go to the Quidditch pitch, but right outside was Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle easily stole Harry's wand and knocked him unconscious.

"See here, at Hogwarts," Malfoy sneered, causing him to look even uglier than usual. "We teach you filthy half-breeds the way you're supposed to be treated. We don't just humiliate you, no. We're going to torture you. DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

I looked warily at his eyes, my black ones penetrating his weak blue eyes. He smiled creepily.

"You see, your poor Harry was dosed with a strong sleeping potion at dinner," Malfoy was rambling now. "And trust me, your stupid mudblood girlfriend and the Weasley are no match for the Dark Lord, or his servants."

"Your silly Dark Lord is incapacitated," I tried to make my voice as un-shaky as possible. "It would take more than all the Slytherin students have to offer to be able to make him live again."

"Not with your filthy blood, it won't," he said. He stormed off down the hallway, and I was unable what to make of him, so I went after him, making sure I wasn't seen. He marched outside, where Hermione and Ron were standing. There were a few large stones, and they were standing on a patch of grass.

" _Petrificus Totalus!_ " with that, Ron was out of the battle.

" _Stupefy! Reducto! Expelliarmus!_ " Hermione was good, but not good enough. I had to do something.

" _Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!_ " I yelled. Crabbe and Goyle's wands were thrown into the air. " _Infusculus! Infusculus!_ "

The henchmen were blinded and wandless, crawling along the floor.

Malfoy turned around and kicked Hermione in the ribs. She lay, unconscious, on the ground.

"NO!" I dropped my wand and ran at Malfoy, not thinking straight. I dodged his badly aimed hexes and jinxes, then tackled him. I was blinded by anger. "You, foul, loathsome, evil little COCKROACH!"

I punched him, then slammed my fists repeatedly into his face, ribs, and back. He acted like a little baby, curling up and whimpering. All of a sudden, Harry came running through the tunnel that led to the grassy lawn.

"Go!" I yelled through my tears. "Quickly, get Mrs. Pomfrey!"

I held Hermione's head in my arms, worried so badly I would probably get sick. A few moments later Pomfrey came running, Harry trailing behind her. She levitated Draco and Hermione behind her after a few blood-stopping spells. Harry unbound Ron.

"Where is he?!" Ron jumped to his feet, wand in hand. "I'll kill him!"

"Sorry Ron, but Malfoy's gone to the hospital wing," Harry cringed at his outburst. Funny.

Ron looked around and saw blood on my hands and arms and exclaimed, "How about Casper? He's hardly fine!"

"That's not his blood on his hands, Ron," Harry explained pleadingly.

Ron, not taking the hint, continued his outburst. "What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It's Malfoy's, okay Ron?" Harry was done with this. "He beat him up. Bad."

"Wha-" Ron stopped mid-word. He walked over to me and whispered, "Is it true?"

I nodded my head solemnly.

"Come on Casper," Harry called. I didn't budge. "Hermione wouldn't want you to freeze to death tonight."

"Alright, fine," I gave in. I walked into the tunnel, but when my fellow Gryffindors headed straight, I took a quick right towards the hospital wing. They ran after me, not fazed at all.

As we walked into the wing, my eyes searched the room. They first fell on a blonde boy in Slytherin robes, bleeding on his ear and through his robes. He was whimpering in his sleep. I forced my eyes away from his bed and I saw Hermione. She looked pale, lifeless. Unconscious. It nearly brought me to tears just looking at her. I walked to Pomfrey and asked, quiet as a whisper, "How is she?"

Pomfrey stared at me, amazed at my nerve. "Mr. Roydon, I believe you are in no fit state to be here! The Headmaster is looking for you!"

"I said," I raised my voice and my eyes bored into hers. She visibly gulped. "How is she?"

"She'll be okay," she said, expression unfocused. "Two broken ribs a-"

"Two WHAT!?" I exclaimed.

"Broken ribs," she continued. "And a bit of brain damage."

"Oh, God," I whispered under my breath.

"Now, if you'll excuse m-"

She was interrupted by a chair floating through the air. It landed softly next to Hermione's bed. I walked over to it and sat down.

"Mister Roydon!" Pomfrey started to raise her voice. "You will go to the Headmaster at once!"

"Shhhhhhhh!" I hissed angrily. She gulped again. "If you want, you can go get Professor Dumbledore, but I will not leave here until Hermione wakes up!"

"Fine then!" Pomfrey turned to leave, only to stop in her tracks. I turned and saw Dumbledore in the doorway.

"I believe that will not be necessary, Poppy," Dumbledore walked towards us. "Mr. Roydon, there are a few things I would like to discuss with you."

I nodded, focus mostly on Hermione.

"Firstly, I need to know what happened with you, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, and Mr. Potter this evening."

"Well, me and Harry were off to the pitch to practice a bit, but Malfoy and his gang were waiting right outside the painting at the Gryffindor common room. They put Harry to sleep and ran off. I followed them to Hermione."

"I see."

"Yes, well they used the body-bind on Ron, then I disarmed and temporarily blinded Crabbe and Goyle."

"Hmm."

"Malfoy kicked Hermione in the side, and…"

"And what, Mr. Roydon?"

"And I beat him up. Harry came and I told him to get Mrs. Pomfrey, and I waited there."

"Mr. Roydon, you know, that by doing this, you have broken 5 school rules, give or take."

I nodded.

"And that this would normally result in immediate expulsion, including having your wand snapped and your brain wiped of all magic."

My head snapped up, and my heart broke. No, that's an understatement. It shattered into dust.

"However, this is far from the normal situation. I understand that you did this for the protection of Ms. Granger here, and for Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley."

"I have decided that you will instead have detention for a week-"

My face fell.

"with Professor Lupin, and will lose 5 points to Gryffindor."

"And I assume Malfoy is getting off free? And his goons?"

"Not at all, Casper."

The use of my first name caused me to look up, then my attention refocused on Hermione.

"In fact, they will be paying detention for a month, will not be able to go on Hogsmeade weekends for the rest of the year, and will be losing 15 points for Slytherin. Each."

The next morning, Hermione shook me awake, and when I saw her eyes, my heart skipped a beat.

'Stupid Roydon,' I thought to myself. 'Can't stand not being a pervert, now can I?'

We ran down to the common room, and after a long and normal, tiring day with classes and whatnot, we collapsed on to the couches in the Gryffindor common room because we were so tired. We pulled the blankets that had been there from the night before, and fell asleep in a few minutes.

" _Where is he?"_

" _Listen, I haven't found him ye-"_

" _Come on! I've waited twelve years to kill him!"_

" _I don't think you've had twelve years_ to _wait."_

" _I DID MY WAITING!"_

" _And however did you manage that?"_

" _I DID IT! TWELVE YEARS OF IT! IN AZKABAN!"_

Harry woke me up hurriedly. I rubbed my eyes, then glanced up at him. Ron was at the couch Hermione was on, desperately trying to wake her up. I got up, already wearing some decent clothes. Hermione got up slowly, then allowed Ron and I to pull her through the corridors to Professor Dumbledore's office. I ran into a wall, and fell, accidentally pulling Hermione on top of me.

"Did you have to take me along?" Hermione mumbled.

"Come on!" Harry pulled Hermione up and kept running. "We're nearly there."

All of a sudden Harry came to a complete halt as he was face to face with Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Weasley? Ms. Granger?" McGonagall was evidently tired. "What are you three doing here?"

"We were on our way to Professor Dumbledore's office," Harry explained quickly.

"Very well," McGonagall submitted. "Albus is waiting for you anyhow."

"Thank you," Harry began pulling Hermione as I felt a tug on my wrist. I ran after them.

"Anyone care to explain what's going on?" I asked.

"Dream," Ron answered, as if that explained everything. Apparently it actually was, because Hermione began to wake up and start trying to go fast.

When we reached Professor Dumbledore's office, he greeted us in and asked why we were here.

"I had a dream," Harry began. Dumbledore seemed to gain interest. "I was in a room, and there were two men. One was Professor Lupin, and the other was crazy looking, with black hair and a black-white striped shirt."

Dumbledore nodded and gestured Harry to go on.

"Lupin said, 'I haven't found _him_ yet' and the man seemed to be getting crazier and crazier," he finally concluded. "He finalized by saying 'I did twelve years of waiting in Azkaban!'"

"I see," Dumbledore picked a lemon drop from his bowl and popped it into his mouth before continuing. "The man that Professor Lupin was talking to sounds like Sirius Black."

Hermione sat up and gasped. Ron's mouth hung agape. I just stared blankly.

"He's a mass murderer, Casper," Hermione whispered into my ear. "Rumor has it he's out for Harry." My eyes widened, but I allowed Dumbledore to go on without any questions from me.

"We had an invasion earlier, and I realize that you ran into Professor McGonagall on the way here," Dumbledore was rambling, I was sure of it. I slid my hand into Hermione's. "She was going to bed after a meeting the Hogwarts faculty were having due to the intrusion."

"However, I can assure you that the students here are completely safe, and you may go back to your dormitories at this time," Dumbledore gestured us out the door and into the hall. "Good night."

A/N : My email is snoopandlay  \- if you have any questions, email me. Also, I don't own Harry Potter, although I did make up Casper Roydon. Sorry it's a little fast paced, I just want to get to the exciting part, which is in fourth year.


	2. Hermione Granger

Rockabye

Chapter 2 : Hermione Granger

 _Lleyboy & SnoopDogg_

"Goodbye darling, have fun at Hogwarts! And behave yourself!" my parents waved to me as I approached the train. I waved back, then stepped onto the Hogwarts Express with Harry and Ron.

"Who do you think is going to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" I asked Ron and Harry. "Do you think it's going to be another famous witch or wizard? An Auror, maybe? That would be so educational!"

"Honestly, Hermione, would you mind not rambling on about this new DADA teacher?" Ron said exasperatedly. "I mean seriously, it's probably gonna be some idiot who you've never heard of."

We came to a stop at a compartment with a first year sitting in it, looking tiredly out the window. I gestured to Harry and Ron to stop. I opened the door.

"Hey, this compartment full?" I asked the boy. He opened his eyes, sized us up, and thought for a moment.

"Not at all," he replied, his voice full of … something I couldn't place. It was a comforting tone, but I had never heard it before, not even from Mum and Dad. Suddenly, it was replaced with a look of fear. "Wait, you aren't in Slytherin, are you?"

Ron wrinkled his nose at the mere mention of those vile brats. "Nope," he said. "Why?"

"I've heard dreadful stories of what they do to anyone who isn't a pureblood wizard."

"You're aren't one?" I asked, surprised. Purebloods were common, and more than half of the first years last year had been purebloods. He looked scared a moment, and I let loose a small giggle as I sat next to him. "Don't worry. I'm a muggleborn. I'm Hermione Granger."

"Roydon's the name. Casper Roydon."

"This is Ron and Harry."

He glanced at them, as if sizing them up, but Harry didn't even get nervous, as he normally did when people looked at his scar. But when I looked at Casper's face, it seemed as though he was just looking at Harry like he was a normal person. As my friends sat down, he switched his gaze to Ron, who also didn't seem to notice the attention. Casper seemed satisfied, and he looked at me for a few quick seconds. Then he looked out the window and fell asleep.

"Well?" Ron prompted.

"Well what?" I defended myself.

"What do you think of him?" I was confused. "The kid. Casper?"

I shrugged. "He seems nice," he was actually more than nice, but that wasn't a normal reaction to a person to years younger than you and that you just met.

"Casper, wake up," I shook the boy's shoulder as he rested in his blissful sleep. I hated to rouse him from this peaceful state, but we _were_ there.

When we were in the line to the carriages, I heard Malfoy insulting muggle-borns in a very rude way. A way that had made me cry my eyes out last year, actually. I blocked him out, but when I felt something hit me from behind, I saw Ron bump into me because Casper bumped into him because Crabbe pushed him over. I turned around in time to see a soft push from Casper throw the two older boys to the ground and Malfoy left him alone.

It was sorting time, Casper's turn. I was really rooting for him.

"Aha! Hmmm…." here came the answer. "SLY- Ah I see… GRYFFINDOR!"

I stood up and started clapping, along with the rest of the house. I could see his bright smile as he ran down the steps and sat next to me, across from Harry.

One night, a few weeks before Christmas, we were all around the common room, talking randomly, when Colin Creevey burst in, telling us that McGonagall wanted to see us immediately. We ran to her office, following Colin, and Harry and I went in as Casper sat down outside. She told us to wait outside and to call Casper in. A few minutes later, their conversation ended, and after a concluding discussion with the Charms Professor, went back to the common room.

When we fell back onto the couches, I asked Casper if he had slept yet.

Casper?" I whispered into the darkness.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Have you slept yet?"

"No…"

"Okay."

"Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any plans for Christmas?"

"I'm going to France."

"I was wondering…"

"Yeah?"

"If maybe your family would like to meet me there. In Paris."

"Of course!"

"Okay then. Sweet dreams."

"Good night."

Then, a crash sounded at the far side of the common room. Casper felt around for my arm, and soon we both fell asleep.

"Oi Hagrid!" Ron yelled towards the hut. I slapped him on the arm. Hagrid stepped out of his hut.

"Oi Ron! Hullo Hermione!" Hagrid hollered back. We broke into a run down the hill, careful not to fall. We were in his hut in no time.

"Whut aar you two doin' t'day?" Hagrid asked us.

"Well, we were dropping by, because Harry took Casper-"

"Who's Casp'r?" Hagrid asked.

"He's a first year," Ron piped up. "We sat with him on the train."

"Well ain't that nice ov you three," Hagrid grinned at us as he handed us the huge cups ( _cough, cough, bowls_ ) of tea.

"Well, he's really nice," I butted in.

We sat around, talking small talk, until it was time to go.

"Well, see you around, Hagrid!" Ron and I waved to the half-giant.

When we got up to the top of the hill, near the stones, Malfoy and his goons walked in through the tunnel.

" _Petrificus Totalus!_ " Ron fell next to me, body rigid.

I turned to run, but Malfoy pushed me into one of the huge rocks. All of a sudden I heard 4 incantations.

" _Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Infusculus! Infusculus!_ "

Malfoy's henchmen fell, blinded. That idiot saw Casper and turned to me. He kicked me in the ribs and I exploded into the most unimaginable pain.

I heard someone yell 'NO!' before I fell over, then took a final glance at the fight in front of me. I saw Casper, alone, dodging hexes and jinxes like a Quidditch player dodging Bludgers. He tackled the Slytherin and began pummeling him with his fists. Then, I fell unconscious.

I woke up, supposedly the next morning, and saw Casper in a chair next to me. He was sleeping, obviously, but his face was streaked with dried tears, leaving marks on his face, and it was obvious he had cried. Possibly for hours. That's so cuuuuute!

Mrs. Pomfrey came running as soon as she heard the rustling of blankets, and gave me quick numbing and bone-mending potions. I shook Casper awake, even though he did look better when his face was resting, and we ran as fast as we could to the Gryffindor dorms.

"Hermione! Hermione, we're going to Dumbledore's office!"

I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "Can't you just go without me?"

I felt myself being pulled up and I stayed laying down. Finally, Casper joined in, and I felt power run through me as if he had transferred it. I got up, and let them pull me along. We abruptly stopped in one of the corridors.

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Weasley? Ms. Granger?" I heard the familiar, yet tired, voice of Professor McGonagall. I gripped Casper's hand even tighter than before. "What are you doing?"

"We're going to Professor Dumbledore's office," Harry explained hurriedly.

"Very well. Albus is expecting you anyway." she stepped aside and I pulled Casper along, Ron tugging at me from the front.

"What's going on, anyway?" Casper asked. I had been wondering the same thing.

"Dream," I was surprised that Ron answered, and Casper looked confused, but I knew what had happened. Harry had had a dream about something important, and we were going to consult the headmaster. I gripped Casper's hand tighter, because he didn't seem to mind, and began stepping faster.

When we had made it to the headmaster's office, he began the conversation.

"Hello headmaster," the four of us said in unison.

"Hello there," Dumbledore said. "What brings you four here so late in the night?"

"Well, what happened was -"

"I had a dream." Harry interrupted Ron. Dumbledore sat straighter in his chair and took a lemon drop from his bowl on his desk.

"Lemon drop?" he offered. Casper took one, and I copied. Harry and Ron didn't bother. He gestured to Harry to continue the story.

"Well, we were in a wooden room. It was beat up and dusty, and looked as though it hadn't been touched in years."

"The Shrieking Shack," Dumbledore paled. "I see. Go on."

"There were two men," Harry continued. "One was Professor Lupin, I believe, and the other was dirty, with shaggy black hair, and rotten teeth."

"Sirius Black," Dumbledore paled further. "Continue."

"They were talking, and they were plotting to kill someone. Knowing the rumors, possibly me. Lupin said, however, that he hadn't found the person yet. The other man, Sirius, got hysterical. He yelled that he did his waiting already, in Azkaban Prison. 12 years, is that correct?"

"Yes. Yes, it has been 12 years since he was imprisoned, and since he committed his crime."

"That was all."

"Well, I am not pleased at all to be the bearer of bad news, but the faculty was called to a meeting this evening. It was about an invasion."

I gasped, and Casper's hand slid into mine. I gripped it like a teddy bear as a child. Suddenly, my memory took over my range of sight.

" _Ewwww! Look at that frizzy hair!" Ginger Jules Benjaminson was the most popular girl in elementary school, except for her one friend, Jenni Adriana Herberts. All the boys did exactly what they said, hung onto every last word. "How can you even go outside looking like that!"_

 _Laughter. Their laughter. It was the worst; it was the one thing the I hated more than those two 'perfect little pixies', as their boyfriends called them. And that's another thing - they had boyfriends already! For god's sake, it was only 5th grade!_

 _I had no choice : I ran. I ran across the street without looking for any cars, I ran onto the driveway at our house, unlocked the door, and ran inside. I closed the door behind me, not worried about locking it. How could I worry about something like that when I was hurting so much?_

 _I jumped onto my bed and grabbed my huge stuffed teddy bear. He was the one thing that gave me comfort; him and homework._

" _You'll be there for me, won't you?" I asked the huge bear. It just smiled in reply. "I knew it."_

 _The voices and laughter were back, clear as church bells._

Suddenly, blackness came across my view. It cleared, and another memory filled my mind.

" _Look at her teeth! She looks like a half-beaver half-human!" It was Ginger again, and her sidekick Jenni. This time, though, in 3rd grade. I ran. Ran as far as my legs would take me. I ran over a table, jumped the fence, and scrambled into my room once more. I grabbed the bear, crying. I looked at the half-eaten sandwich on my desk, grabbed it, and munched, voices and laughter fading away. Until a pebble came up and hit my window. I put the marmalade sandwich on the floor and cautiously looked outside._

 _There they were, again. Throwing pebbles. Some hitting the window, making a horrible scratching sound._

' _Why me?' I thought miserably. 'I am ugly, aren't I? Well, guess I'd better get used to it.'_

 _But I never did, and it brought grief to me over the years._

The black was back, and another memory, the most horrifying, erupted in my brain, clouding my vision.

 _I recognized it immediately. It was first year, and I could make out Harry, Ron, Neville, and Seamus walking to their flying lessons._

" _It's LeviOsa. Not LeviosA!" The words still stung, after all these years. "Honestly, she's a nightmare."_

 _I braced myself for the next words, knowing they had hurt me the worst of all._

" _No wonder she hasn't got any friends!"_

 _I ran up to him and bumped into the back of his shoulder as hard as I could. There was nothing I could do._

The black filled my head again, then cleared.

 _I was talking to Malfoy and … the Slytherin Quidditch team. I looked back a moment and saw the entire Gryffindor team and Ron behind me._

" _At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," I told Malfoy, annoyed that he had gotten on the team by buying however many Nimbus 2001s. "They got in on pure talent."_

" _No one asked for your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," Malfoy retorted, sneering. I backed off and ran to Hagrid's hut. Harry and Ron followed. Ron was regurgitating slugs, for whatever reason._

Then the memory cleared.

But then, something strange happened. For a moment, I was back in the headmaster's office, in the present, then I was back in memory land.

'That's strange,' I thought to myself. I was somewhere I was sure I had never been. Suddenly a pain corrupted me, a pain so sharp I had to stomp my feet as to not keel over.

 _A boy was standing not far away. He was crying. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. We were in a graveyard, but not a spooky one. There was a wreath of flowers on the grave the boy was in front of. I noticed a sleeping bag on a bench just outside the cemetery. On the grave were three names : Bertha Stephanie Roydon, Holly Linnette Roydon, and Eli Russell Roydon. As I glanced down at the homeless boy's face, my heart caught in my throat. There, on the ground, was Casper. I crouched down and opened my mouth as to speak, but no sound came out. He wiped his face on his arm, where his tears froze promptly. He walked away from the graves, and I was pulled from memory._

'Oh Merlin!' I thought to myself. 'Have I really been in one of Casper's memories?'

And then, of course, another memory came over me.

 _I saw myself. That's strange, you normally don't see yourself in third-person. Oh well._

 _I saw Ron, and myself, and Casper, coming out of a tunnel. We were on the grass-flat on top of the hill. I saw Goyle give Ron the body-bind, causing him to fall over flat on his back. I saw Malfoy - that git! - running over to me, looking backwards a moment, and turned around and kicked me. I remembered the pain that that kick had caused me. My memory self fell over, and memory Casper dropped his wand._

" _NO!" he yelled. "YOU FOUL, LOATHSOME, EVIL LITTLE COCKROACH!"_

 _He ran over to the blond Death Eater wannabe and did the most unimaginable. He beat him up mercilessly. First he took him to the ground and went for the face, throwing everything he had; elbows, fists, and feet. When Malfoy rolled over, Casper pummeled his back until Malfoy was crying like a little baby. I cringed at the sight of Malfoy covered in blood, but then saw Casper's face. It was a face of pure hatred, until he turned around. He ran to the other side of the hill and picked up my head. I heard footsteps, and saw Harry coming through the tunnel._

" _GO!" Casper was yelling through tears now. "GET POMFREY!"_

 _Harry ran, for his own good most likely, and Casper was crying softly. I remembered my diagnosis : 2 broken ribs and some brain damage. Mrs. Pomfrey ran through the halls, and levitated me and Malfoy behind her. Casper stayed, and I felt the air getting cold. Too cold. He would freeze! Was this what happened!_

" _Come on Casper," Harry urged him. When he didn't budge, Harry tried a different tactic. "Hermione wouldn't want you to freeze out here."_

 _He got up and went straight to the hospital wing._

Blackness covered my view, and cleared into a memory for the last time that night.

 _I was in a house. The room I was in seemed like a sort of tea room; it had a rug over the hardwood floor, with designs of elephants and rhinos. There was a small table made of fine wood, and had distinct patterns on it. It had a tray with a few glasses of tea. There were two sofas. One was occupied by a rather large man reading the Quibbler. I walked over to him and peered over his shoulder. The headline said, in big bold letters :_

 _SIRIUS BLACK : MASS MURDERER_

 _I scanned the article, and sure enough, Sirius Black was captured and put in Azkaban Prison. I looked at the rug. There were two children sitting on it, playing with legos. I walked towards them, studying their faces. The girl was older, probably seven or eight years old, and her brother was probably two or three years old. As I walked around them, I heard Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 coming from the kitchen. There was a woman in there, scrubbing the pots and pans in rhythm to the music. I heard a knock at the door._

" _Eli! Could you get the door?" the woman in the kitchen called. As Eli stood up, I saw that his legs had fur on them, with sporting spots. They looked like a cheetah's legs, complete with paws. As he walked to the door, I noticed that everyone in the house had these strange furry legs. Suddenly, Eli whipped out a wand, and with a flick, everyone's legs looked strangely normal. He walked towards a door with a lightly colored glass painting on it. He opened it, and in the doorway there was a man with a dark hood and cloak on._

" _Hello, sir!" Eli greeted brightly. "How can I help you?"_

 _I saw the man slide a wand out of his sleeve, and because of his cold white hand, a shiver went through me. He lifted his cloak, revealing a bald white head and a snake nose. His mouth was turned downwards in a hard line, and his eyes a pale blue. A saw hair stand up on Eli's arm before he yelled. "Bertha! Get the kids out! NO-"_

" _AVADA KEDAVRA!" a spray of green light shot out of the Voldemort's wand, immediately killing Eli. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

 _Baby Casper was now crying, his mother and father on the ground, dead. Once more, Voldemort shrieked the incantation for the Killing Curse. His sister fell, head hitting the rug with a crunching sound. As Casper turned to run, he tripped over his deceased sister and turned to face Voldemort._

" _CRUCIO!" Voldemort was laughing now, an evil humor dancing in his eyes. "LEGILIMENS!"_

 _He tore into Casper's mind, and recoiled when a white frost started to grow on the floor. It spread rapidly; first covering the floor, causing Voldemort to slip and fall. Then, it covered the walls and paintings. The entire room was now iced and glowing blue. Ice began to cover Voldemort too, before he came out of his shock and spread fire to the room. He quickly disapparated, leaving Casper with alone with his dead family._

I snapped back to reality, just in time to catch the headmaster's parting words.

"However, I can assure you that the students here are completely safe, and you may go back to your dormitories at this time," Dumbledore gestured us out the door and into the hall. "Good night."

A/N : Anyone who might have any questions, email me at snoopandlay  \- I do not have anything to do with the ownership of Harry Potter, but I do want Casper Roydon. Two more chapters, then I'll get to the good stuff. Constructive Criticism is !


	3. Chapter 3

Rockabye

Chapter 3 : Casper Roydon

 _Lleyboy and SnoopDogg_

"Well, at least today's that last day of detention, am I right?" I could see Professor Lupin's unmistakable smile on the other side of the room. "And just in time for the fu- sorry, the Christmas Holiday."

"Well, I suppose," I replied. It _was_ the last day of detention, and of the first quarter. We'd be boarding the Express tomorrow. "What is this potion, anyway?"

We had been making a potion for the last six days, for about 18 hours now. The last day, and the potion was looking complete and bad-smelling as ever.

"Ah," he winked at me. "Confidential."

"Hmph," I was annoyed, mostly because he just didn't want rumors spread. Confidential? That's a lame excuse, even for a teacher.

"Well, look at the time!" he exclaimed as he looked at his clock. "No wonder it's almost finished, you've been here nearly four and a half hours!"

"Well, I'd better get going in that case," I said hastily. Maybe a little too hastily.

"Do you have somewhere to be?" he questioned. I realized I had made a mistake.

"Well, since we've gone over time," I lied. "My friends may be wondering where I am."

With that, I left. As I was about to reach the door of the classroom, I heard the office door open.

"Casper," Lupin said crisply. "I'm sorry for your father. I knew him as a child, and when he died…" his voice trailed off.

"Well then, I'll see you after the break," I made to leave again, only to get interrupted once more.

"Don't listen to what others say, Mr. Roydon," he stopped me. I glared at him. "Your father died an honorable death and as a great man."

I left without another word.

"And why, exactly are you here?" Snape glided across the room as if to attack his prey.

"Well, I was in detention with Professor Lupin," I began, stuttering worse than Professor Quirrell; or what I'd heard of him at any rate. "And we were making a potion. I came here to ask you if you might know what it was."

"I may and I might," Snape said. "List ALL ingredients."

"The only one that I was allowed to handle was Aconite," I answered truthfully. "Though I did smell something a slight bit… peppery."

"Very well," Snape muttered. "And what did he do with the potion?"

"First, he stirred it for the first couple of days. Then, on the fourth day, he put it in a heated jar and shook it up," I answered. "On the last few days, he froze it and then boiled it, and on the last day…"

My voice trailed off, remembering our discussion about my father. I shook my head.

"On the last day, he took the slime of a slug and poured it in, then boiled it once more."

"It seems…" Snape began. "It seems as though he was right not to tell you."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh so arrogant, just like your idiot father," Snape muttered.

"I'm sorry, but could you repeat that?" I said, pulling my wand out of my pocket, slowly.

"Your idiot father," Snape said, loudly and clearly. "Was oh so arrogant. That MONSTROUS PIECE OF FILTH destroyed the reputation of this school!"

"MY FATHER WAS THE EXCEPTION! MY FATHER WAS THE START OF SOMETHING AMAZING!"

"YOUR FATHER WAS AN IDIOT! A FOOL! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THOSE TIMES!"

"YOU TWAT! YOU BASTARD! WHY DO WE HAVE A DEATH-EATER TEACHING HERE ANYWAYS?! TRUST ME SNIVELLUS, YOU DON'T KNOW HALF THE PAIN I'VE GONE THROUGH!"

"Do you seriously believe that, you nitwit? Have you ever felt someone probing your mind?"

"OF COURSE I HAVE! I'VE BEEN THROUGH MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER GO THROUGH!"

I untucked my wand.

" _EXPELLIARMUS!_ "

" _CRUCIO!_ "

"You dare use an unforgivable on me?"

"Trust me, stupid child, you don't know what you're getting yourself into."

" _STUPEFY! REDUCTO!_ " a vial exploded behind Snivellus, shards flying everywhere.

" _CRUCIO! FACITE VOBIS IN DOLORE!_ "

As the spell hit, I erupted into the most unimaginable pain; worse than the Cruciatus, worse even than an explosion. I could feel it running through my blood, in the marrow of my bones, in the chambers of my heart.

"Idiot. Thinking he could take on a powerful wizard such as myself," Snape sneered down at me. " _Profundiorem!_ "

The pain got worse; it felt as though he had used the Pain Bringing spell a thousand times; in fact, hundreds of thousands. I curled up in a ball, wishing that someone would save me. I could hear footsteps, but I didn't care. I didn't care beyond my body, wishing it would all end. Snape, who had been reading my mind, kicked me in the face. I didn't retaliate - to do so would be useless - but instead dug my fingers into the ground, burning hand-sized holes in the metal floor.

" _Avada Ke_ -" Snape began, but he didn't get far enough.

" _EXPELLIARMUS_!" Hermione's familiar voice rang through the air. " _STUPEFY_!"

She ran to me, and slid on the floor. She was crying, as if she had been through exactly what I was going through. Ha! As if.

"You're going to be all right," she murmured, tears dropping from her face. "Harry and Ron are getting Mrs. Pomfrey right now."

I closed my eyes, forcing my tears away, for now at any rate. "H-h-h-he w-w-was a-a-ab-b-bout t-to k-k-kill m-me."

"Shhh," she whispered. She was worried, no doubt about it. "You're going to be okay. Shhh…"

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe normally, but to no avail.

She closed her eyes, as if finding inner peace. She began - to my surprise - singing. It was the most beautiful voice I had ever heard, filling the room and instantly covering me. It was interrupted, however, by three figures in the doorway. Harry, Ron, and Mrs. Pomfrey were there. I closed my eyes, still with uneven breathing.

" _Sine Sensu_ ," said Mrs. Pomfrey's familiar voice. My body began to fall asleep, so I soon followed it. My sleep, of course, had to be plagued by horrible nightmares.

 _I was standing in a doorway, as if in a memory. At once, I recognized the room as the Great Hall. I made out the four tables : there, in the Slytherin table… was that Snape? And at the Gryffindor… It was, wasn't it! James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and … I didn't know who he was, but he seemed a good friend of the three. And there! There was … my father? I saw Lupin get up, and he walked towards my dad's section of the table. He took out one of his textbooks as he neared my dad and smacked him in the back of the head. I felt a burning rage within me. James and Sirius laughed, along with the other boy._

" _Oi, Roydon!" James was snickering. I ran to him, ready to beat him up as I had done with Malfoy a couple of days ago, when someone else caught my eye. He was at the Slytherin table, a blonde boy. He had long hair, and a familiar sneer._

 _That had to be another Malfoy. There, next to him, were a few others : his girlfriend, obviously, because he had been kissing her, and his girlfriend's sister, who was quite obviously at least a cousin._

" _Cissy! Stop being so public about everything!" the sister exclaimed, quite embarrassed._

" _Oh, so I can't have fun now?" Cissy retorted._

" _Blacks! Keep it down, alright!" another girl appeared._

 _Wait. Black? As in… Sirius Black? So… Sirius had to be their cousin, their looks said the entire story._

" _Oi Remus! Give you a sickle if you kiss that Trixie girl!" the fourth friend in the ring called out Remus. Sirius pulled him down and whispered something in his ear. Lupin gulped and looked sick. "Oh give it up Sirius! Stop ruining the fun for everyone else!"_

" _Sorry Peter, but no can do," Sirius replied. "I can't have my friends kissing my cousins, now can I?"_

 _Trixie, obviously embarrassed from being cousins with a Gryffindor, blushed. So did Cissy, her sister._

 _My attention returned to my dad, who had been studying furiously over the noise. I saw a couple of familiar ghosts floating around, but paid no attention._

I woke with a start. As I took in my surroundings, I realized I was obviously in the hospital wing. I tried to stretch my arms, but they were apparently died down to the bed. I tried to look around, and saw blue sheets surrounding my bed. Then I noticed the faint smell of peaches and a sniffling sound, just as faint. I coughed, and saw someone next to me.

"Casper!" Hermione yelped in excitement. "How do you feel? Do you need more sleep? Are you okay? You can hear me, right? You can see me? Good."

"What's that smell?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"What smell?" she retorted.

"That peach smell…" I sniffed the air again.

"Oh," Hermione said. "That's probably my shampoo."

"Well then, I love the smell of your shampoo."

"Well who doesn't like peaches?"

"Hmm… some insane idiot. Snape, maybe?"

She laughed a little. "Does it hurt still?"

"A bit," I tried to shrug. "Am I allowed to be unbound?"

"Oh, of course!" she quickly incinerated the ropes, and I was free. "By the way, what spell did he use? Everyone's dying to know if he used an unforgivable. I kind of want to know as well."

"Well, he used the Cruciatus-"

Hermione gasped a little.

"But he didn't get me with it. I exploded one of his potion vials and ducked onto the floor. Then he used something like 'Face it bolbis in galore' or something."

"You mean … 'Facite vobis in dolore'?" her voice was faint.

"Yeah, that's the one." I said.

"Any else?"

"He used another one, 'Profundioriem' I think."

When she started to cry a little, I just had to know what these did. "What do they do, anyway?" I was really curious.

"The first one is pure pain, and the second is a magnifier; it amplifies whatever spell was last by 100 times."

"Oh God."

"Well…"

"When's the train?"

"Don't worry, we've still got a few hours. It's only 10 in the morning."

"Alrighty then."

" _Pigra Uro_." she said, and I felt strength flow back into my body. I got out of the bed, surprised I was still wearing my jeans and T-shirt. "Let's go see Harry and Ron first. They aren't as worried as I was, but they were still worried."

"Professor?" I asked into the classroom. I heard shuffling in the office. I glided across the room and up the stairs, then knocked on the door. I heard it unlock from the inside, so I pushed it open. "Good morning, Professor Lupin."

"Morning, Casper," Lupin replied. "What brings you here on traveling day?"

"This is about my dad," I told him, receiving a slight cringe from his face. My suspicions were confirmed, and my eyes narrowed. "How many times did you do it?"

"Now, now Casper," he shrugged. "I was childish, immature! What do you want me to say?"

"I want the truth," my voice was dangerously low. "How many times did you hit him?"

"Every single meal," he sighed. "At least once, that is."

"And Harry's dad? James?" Lupin cringed again. "I don't care that he's dead, I want to know!"

"Collectively, the four of us, that is, would do it at least thrice a day."

"And what did Dumbledore ever do about it?"

"Nothing. He didn't care for the half-breed."

"Did you know my mum?"

"I-" his voice was strangled. "We all knew her. Everyone."

"Go on."

"She was… different. She was always singing to herself."

"I know," now it was my turn for my heart to get caught in my throat.

"Well, one of the Slytherins came up with this idea that we should all - what's the word… We should all shun her. The only person who interacted with her besides teachers was your father. Bu-"

I didn't hear the rest of his sentence, but I don't think he finished it, either. It didn't matter, because I was gone.

I woke to the sound of heavy breathing and some kind of squirmy noise. I thought someone was eating a lollipop from the trolley, but when I turned I saw the most unexpected thing that could come to mind. Hermione was sitting there, but she wasn't the Hermione that I knew. She was pushed against the cushioned blue chair snogging a mop of red hair. Ron was kissing her, full on. I looked around and saw Harry still sitting across from me, but he was knocked out and had a bruise on his left cheek. It was then that I realized that Hermione was not in fact having a good time, but in fact was experiencing quite the opposite. Then, out of nowhere, I saw Hermione glance at me through the corner of her eye, and I read one of the many expressions I saw so well : Help. As Ron turned his attention to where Hermione was looking, which was me, he raised his arm to hit me. I moved surprisingly fast, even for a half-pixie. I hopped the table, making his fist slam into the chair where I had been just a second ago. I reached over and felt a hand pulling on my ankle. I slammed down onto the table, and realized that a Harry was now fully awake and grinning evilly. I watched him raise his elbow and when it connected with my back, black spots began dancing in my eyes. I looked at Ron, who seemed to be enjoying the show. I looked at Hermione, pleadingly. Unfortunately, all that did was give her a reason to join in on the fun. As Ron and Harry held me down on the table, Hermione used all she had - elbows, fists, knees, feet - whatever struck her fancy. She delivered blow after blow, only going faster when I gave her the pleasure of a groan or scream. Harry quickly picked up his wand and put a sound blocking charm on the door. Hermione smirked evilly, then gestured to her companions to turn me over. She connected her elbow with my face, which made the bones crack and blood flow. Just when I thought she was going to stop when she stepped out of the car, she returned back for more, and this time it was going to be much worse. Much worse. Because, as she walked right back in, she had her hands full. One was a muggle knife, and the other was her wand. She eyes gleamed and she flicked her wand and I descended into spasms, screaming my lungs out. Her eyes glimmered, those broken brown eyes… but something else was there. Something deep, deeper than this temporary satisfaction of having someone tortured. My nose was still bleeding, covering my face, but I could still breathe. When she started tracing her knife across my back, because Ron and Harry flipped me over once more, more blood began to trickle, then pour. It poured black, for that was the color of pixie-blood. When she finally stopped, she poured a steaming hot potion on my back, which closed the wounds immediately. She walked back out the compartment for a second, but then walked right back in.

"We'll be there in a couple of hours," Hermione said calmly, as if nothing had happened. The fire was out, from the look of her eyes. "Oh, and Casper?"

I looked at her, pain leaking out of my eyes, agonizingly, as I struggled to keep them to a bare minimum.

"You won't be telling anyone what happened, or it will happen again, and again. It's the Golden Trio's word against yours."

With that, she let me be, trying to include me in the conversation every once in awhile. When we had finally made it to King's Cross, Ron and Harry looked surprised as I left the station without a chaperone. Before I knew it, Harry pulled me back by my shirt.

"Where's your parents?" he asked suspiciously. "Let's just say I have more than just two dead relatives," I retorted. His face was unreadable, but my pixie ears picked up Hermione telling Harry that I was homeless. I wonder how she found that out…

A/N : Hermione will be explained in the next chapter; then I'll have a flashback chapter, then we have the good shit. I don't own anything though. Till next time!


End file.
